Nigerian fruit cake
Dark, spiced wedding and Christmas cake with juice-soaked fruit
No Lagos wedding or Christmas table feels complete without a dark, heavy fruit cake, often stacked in tiers and covered in icing, with slices wrapped in napkins for guests to take home. The crumb is dense and moist, coloured almost black with browning (burnt-sugar caramel), and packed with raisins, currants and cherries warmed by nutmeg and mixed spice. Many families soak the fruit for weeks in brandy, stout or red wine; this version plumps it in orange juice instead, with a spirit given only as an option. Serve thin slices with tea, or ice it for a celebration. Bake it hot and fast and you get the classic failure: a cracked, burnt crust over a raw, sunken middle, so keep the oven low. Chef's tip: wrap a double band of brown paper around the outside of the tin and tie it with string; it slows the edges so the middle catches up.
- Total time
- 150 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 16
Ingredients
For the soaked fruit
- 1 ⅛ lb mixed dried fruitraisins, sultanas and currants
- 3 ½ oz glacé cherrieshalved
- ¾ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup brandy or dark rum (optional)optional, in place of 60 ml of the juice
For the cake
- 9 oz buttersoftened, plus a little for the tin
- 7 oz soft brown sugar
- 5 eggsat room temperature
- 10 ½ oz plain flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp browning (burnt-sugar colouring)or black treacle
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 orangefinely grated zest only
- 1 ¾ oz chopped almonds (optional)
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Put 1 ⅛ lb mixed dried fruit, 3 ½ oz glacé cherries and ¾ cup orange juice (or the ¼ cup brandy or dark rum, if using) in a pan and warm over a low heat for 5 minutes, without boiling. Take off the heat, cover and leave for 30 minutes so the fruit drinks up the juice. Overnight is even better.
35 minStep 2: Heat the oven to 300°F (275°F fan). Grease a 23 cm round deep cake tin, line the base and sides with a double layer of baking paper, and tie a collar of brown paper around the outside.
Step 3: Beat 9 oz butter and 7 oz soft brown sugar together for 4–5 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
5 minStep 4: Beat in 5 eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour with the last two so the mixture doesn't curdle.
Step 5: Whisk the rest of 10 ½ oz plain flour with 1 ½ tsp baking powder, 2 tsp mixed spice, 1 tsp ground nutmeg and ¼ tsp salt, then fold it into the butter mixture.
Step 6: Stir in 2 tbsp browning (burnt-sugar colouring), 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1 orange until the batter is an even dark brown, then fold in the soaked fruit with any juice left in the pan, and 1 ¾ oz chopped almonds if using.
Step 7: Spoon the batter into the tin, level it and make a slight dip in the middle so the cake rises flat.
Step 8: Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes. A skewer pushed into the centre should come out clean, with no wet batter; if the top darkens too fast, lay a sheet of foil over it.
100 minStep 9: Cool completely in the tin, then wrap in baking paper and foil. It cuts best after a day and keeps for 2 weeks in a cool place.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 360 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 55 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does nigerian fruit cake take?
- About 150 minutes in total: 45 minutes to prepare and 105 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 16 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of orange juice?
- Mandarin or pineapple juice, same amount.
- What can I use instead of butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
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